🍁Nine Ancient Obelisks

-- I would say I'm glad to see you, but not really – it's not exactly a fun place here, so it's not "welcome," but rather "I sympathize." -- After waiting for the eavesdroppers to disappear, he finally switched to a whisper. -- A little mouse ran by and told me about your successes and how you patched up our Ilka. Well done. Seriously. Now, tell me, what happened?

Also in a whisper:
- What can I say... I'm waiting for the first fight. The opponent comes out. "I'm a sea bandit," he says... He stands there like an idiot, eyes gazing at the sky. So I "warmed him up" with a little fire, and then covered him with water from above. We closed the bathhouse after your little skirmish. Let the guy steam a bit...
- "Ilka"? "Ilka" won his fight, but he took a beating and that jerk even scorched him. The healers were shocked... They said he needed two hundred remedies, like he was either going to recover or die... But I remember the good things. After that failed training session with Sir Kir, he supported me morally, while some were looking at me with disapproval. So I went up to him and healed him to the fullest. And these devils rolled their eyes, saying, "Don't deprive us of our bread..." What bread? The guy has no money, and they're talking about "bread." Maybe they meant roasted meat, who knows... I've heard a lot about your fellow countrymen...
- And then someone stole something important from me...
- In the quarterfinals, I faced a Scrym-ambal. Well, my "bathhouse" is also suitable for Scryms. He "left," in short.
- "Ilka" was matched against our arena leader from Sugar. Maybe you've heard of him? He couldn't handle it... I wanted to heal him again, but the werewolves in white coats got there before me... I should have stood closer.
- In the semifinals, another Scrym. His hands are like logs, and he has an axe in those "logs." He stands there, looking at me... "I surrender," he says... What a loser...
- And in the final, it was that same guy from the Sugar arena. His armor is made of who-knows-what. Swords bounced off it like rubber balls against a wall... He didn't get a single scratch, the pest. So I attacked him from here and there. In the end, he felt the effects of my "bathhouse." He was already lying on the sand with both of his shoulder blades exposed, the devil. But somehow, he managed to knock me down with his axe at the last moment. Too bad...
- And how did I get here? Who knows. We were sleeping peacefully in the Temple, the guards attacked, tied us up, took our things, and here I am...